Critique my coop design please.

[rjackh]

Great work on sketchup. I am planning a coop right now pretty similar to this. What is your logic of the pop door on the back wall and not the front wall near the large door into the coop? I can't decide which side I want mine, what do you think? The poop tray would be easier to access with the roost right inside the door, meaning the pop door needs to be on the backside. I like post 27 roost bar. I will probably steal that design if you don't mind.

 

[rjackh]

Second question - is it necessary to have food and water inside the coop, or can it just be in the run?

 

[detz]

Great work on sketchup. I am planning a coop right now pretty similar to this. What is your logic of the small chicken door on the back wall and not the front wall near the large door into the coop? I can't decide which side I want mine, what do you think? The poop tray would be easier to access with the roost right inside the door, meaning the chicken door needs to be on the backside. I like post 27 roost bar. I will probably steal that design if you don't mind.

I keep moving the door depending on where I put things in the coop. The little door goes into the run so it has to be on that wall but it could be anywhere on that wall. I plan on having a poop board and a door, here is another shot for a better perspective. The poop board is the green object and you can see how the door will open.

 

[aart]

Path from pop door(little door to run) to nests.....
.......best to avoid having it going under the roost area so they don't track poop into the nests.

Roosts should be at least 1' from wall and 1' apart and 1' above nests.

Will you have access to the other side of the coop also? Good to be able to reach all areas easily.

Can't remember your dimensions......is there any way to show the overall dims when doing a screen shot(I think you're posting screen shots)? Just showing the foot print dims would help with scaling your model shots.

 

[detz]

Here's one with dimensions. I also added another vent on the right wall looking into the run that will stay open year around. I'm going to add windows on the front and left walls for summer that I'll close down in the winter. Roosts are 8" from front wall and 12" apart.

 

[aart]

8" from wall is going to be restrictive unless you are getting bantams.

Why not just go 8W x 16L x 8H?
Will save on lumber scraps(except for roof and gables) and the extra room will be beneficial to both birds and keeper.

 

[pfewless]

Very nice space. I would move the roost perches out from the wall a bit though. Maybe 3 to 4 inches.

 

[yellowchicks]

I would agree with @aart on:

• Why not just go 8W x 16L x 8H? Will save on lumber scraps(except for roof and gables) and the extra room will be beneficial to both birds and keeper.
• Path from pop door(little door to run) to nests............best to avoid having it going under the roost area so they don't track poop into the nests.
• Roosts should be at least 1' from wall and 1' apart and 1' above nests.
• Will you have access to the other side of the coop also? Good to be able to reach all areas easily.

In addition, I would also suggest the following:

1. Put the roosting bar near the back wall, so that when you open the front poop door, birds don't all fly out immediately.
2. Instead of 2 roosting bars, use one long one, or space out the two more. Give each chicken at least a 12" radius to maneuver without knocking each other off the roost or poop down the wall.
3. Provide multiple removable poop boards instead of one big one. It will be easier to lift up and scrap off the poop to into a compost bin, so incorporate a handle in the poop board. Make sure that the poop boards are extended at least 12" beyond both sides of the roosting bar to capture everything.
4. Since your coop is not a walk in coop, consider keeping the depth to 4 ft, so you can lean in the clean the back walls. Otherwise, it is out of arm's reach, you will have to use a tool or stand on the stool to reach in.
5. If the coop depth is shallow, try to make it up in width. Eight foot is a standard lumber length, so you won't have much waste.
6. Depending on how wide your coop is, maybe make two poo doors or one smaller one in the front. Swinging a 6 ft to 8 ft door could be very heavy and hazardous.
7. Think about adding more windows, so you and your kids can see the chickens when they are inside the coop.
8. Physically stake out the coop and the run footprint in your yard. Tie some strings between the stakes so you can have a better idea on its mass and dimension. Sometimes it is hard to envision on paper (or in CAD) of the physical mass, the set back needed, and how it look. It will be helpful to decide where you want to place the door to the run.
9. Here are my thoughts on the run design. It is just as important as the coop. My chickens rarely stay inside the coop except for sleeping and laying. Their favorite place is under the coop, where they nap and having a dust bath during the day. So pay attention to under the coop as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/936761/run-heights#post_14339999 (post #9).
10. Think about the window design. The commercial off the shelf shed windows are bigger. Smaller windows will need to be custom built and custom design, but they can add a lot of design accents to feature your coop. Windows can also maximize available sunlight, help egg laying without adding artificial light.
11. You can do DLM (deep litter method) in the run, but still have a poop board inside the coop to reduce the poop build up and humidity. It is healthier for the chickens to have a clean coop, so you can have clean eggs. From my experience, except when the temperature is drop down to the 20s below when the poop is frozen solid, the poop on the poop board stay generally stay moist, it doesn't dry up as fast as in the run where it is fully ventilated. Therefore, I personally like to clean the poop tray every day, and pick out the poop in the shavings inside the coop. Out in the run, it is just DLM, raking it once or twice a day, adding more shavings when necessary.
12. As you get closer in completing the design, work out a "Build of Material" spreadsheet to list all the raw materials and dimension you will need, price them out, list where you can buy them, and see if there are places where you can save some money. Since you are not in a rush to build, time is on your side to go through this exercise. It can also serve as your cut sheet later during construction.

Good luck!

 

[detz]

Thanks for the feedback, great stuff. I'm trying to work in as much as I can. I changed around the coop so that the pop door and nests are closer and don't go near the roosts. The roosts are 12" from the wall and each other with the poop board big enough to cover it all. I'll probably make it two sections too.

Added a window in for summer (I'll close it in the winter) and I have two access doors, two big ones in the front and one on the left.

 

[SixChickFlock]

In your new design, I would be concerned about all your rain water flowing off the roof and getting into your nest boxes. Even if they're real tight, it may not be pleasant collecting eggs in the rain or snow.

I'm pretty new at this, but... Making my hens walk through the poop board to nest has not resulted in soiled eggs or nests. My setup (not sure if it qualifies as design) is quite similar to yours except for a smaller clean out door... Roosts are in the middle at the door and perpendicular to your roosts and door... And the back half of the hen house is inside my garage. That's where the eggs come from and supplies are stored.

Cheers!